When Wandering Stars Collide
by JRRhodes113
Summary: A starship captain meets a beautiful young engineer and they embark the adventure of a lifetime. Balancing love, life, marriage and the raising of children was never in the cards for either of these career-driven individuals, until now. A/U but primarily based on 2009 movie universe. READ NOTE IN PROLOGUE
1. Only Sparks

**_Hey EVERYONE! This isn't my first go at fanfic, but definitely my first try with Star Trek. I'm a HUGE Trekkie and have had this story in my head for literally years. It was time I shared it with the world. _**

**_A couple things-this story is VERY AU, and you will see elements from both the original timeline and the Star Trek 2009 timeline. You will also see names and places that have never been discussed in any version of Star Trek. So please just try to follow along and enjoy the ride!_**

**Prologue**

This really wasn't her scene. She felt so uncomfortable around all these people-but it was the Admiral's Birthday party, and as his only daughter she felt obliged to be there. Plus, her father was the sole reason she had taken leave to come to the star base. She could suffer through a few hours of immense boredom.

Oh well, at least she looked good. Her lightly tanned skin and kind green eyes perfectly accented by the off-white dress she had picked for the occasion. Her round face was framed beautifully by long brunette curls. She was a short 5'3, but refused to wear heels, citing they were impractical and unhealthy.

She sat at the bar alone in the lounge where the party was being held, drinking her non-alcoholic beverage. She was 25, but as a current cadet at Starfleet, it was her own opinion that she must maintain the sharpest mind possible at all times.

Let's face it, this party sucked.

He stood across the room staring at her. He was a Starship captain, and a good friend of the Admiral's. It was an honor that he was invited, plus it gave his crew some much needed shore leave.

Drink in hand, he leaned over to his first officer and asked "Who is that?"

"That is the Admiral's daughter, Captain," the first officer replied.

A crooked smile spread across his face, "I'll be right back." He handed his half empty glass to the bystanding waiter, and started toward the girl.

"Captain, as your friend it is my duty to make sure you heard me. That is the Admiral's daughter."

"Your point being?"

"Your way with women is concerning, Captain. I advise you against this for the sake of your friendship with the Admiral."

"Dually noted, Commander." The captain acknowledged. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be right back."

He quickly made his way over to where she was sitting. He cleared his throat, "Excuse me..." He began.

Her eyes shot up to meet his, "Let me guess, you're going to ask if that seat is taken." She quipped.

"Well is it?" He shot back, grinning slightly.

"Well that depends, are you a psychotic serial killer?"

"Um, no."

"An android?"

"Pretty sure I'm human."

"Are you going to hit on me?"

"Probably, yes."

Now it was her turn to grin. "Pure honesty. I like it." She motioned toward the empty stool next to hers, "have a seat, captain."

He took his seat, and smiled at her, "What I was going to say, was that you look like the most depressed person in the galaxy right now."

"Um, thanks?"

He smiled, "this party's not really your thing?"

"Ha, no, not really." She chuckled scornfully.

His curiosity was piqued, "What is your thing?"

"Oh me? I'm an engineer." She said.

"You don't say!" He exclaimed.

She smiled, "yeah, I graduated from the Interstellar Academy of Science and Engineering three years ago, and now I'm set to graduate Starfleet Academy in the fall."

He shook his head, "wow, you must be really smart."

"I guess," she shrugged, "but mostly I just love the work. Those engines, if you listen, they'll talk to you, they'll tell you if they're sick, or if they just need a little love, and I sound like a total loser nerd crazy person right now!" She chuckled, embarrassed.

"No, no not at all," he laughed, "it's not often you find someone who is as devoted to their work as you are."

"I suppose you're right," she agreed, "but as you can see, this-" she waved her hand toward the crowded room, "not really my element. When it's just me and the machines, that's where I feel most at home."

"Then why are you here?" He wondered aloud.

"It's my dad's party," she sighed, then her eyes got big, "which reminds me, I never introduced myself-I feel so rude!" She extended her hand for him to shake, "I'm Danielle Duvall. And you are?" She trailed off.

He put his hand out and took hers, "Jim. Jim Kirk. Pleasure to meet you Miss Duvall."

_**Reviews are appreciated! Thanks!**_


	2. Thrust From the Shadows

_**Here's Chapter 2! I hope you enjoy it!**_

They talked and laughed and talked some more-long into the night. Danielle had heard many things about Captain Kirk, and not much of it was good, but he seemed so...normal to her. He wasn't this pretentious womanizer that he was rumored to be, he was just a regular man- albeit freakishly handsome, but in no way the man she thought him to be. She was taken by everything about him; his smile, his laugh, and his sparkling eyes, and He had such a presence about him...like the kind where he could turn heads just by walking into the room. 

He told her about the places he'd been, the things he'd seen, and about his beautiful Enterprise that was currently orbiting the planet. He spoke of her so mesmerizingly, and she could tell he loved that ship more than he could ever love anything else. 

She was so enthralled in his stories, that she almost jumped when she heard, "And what about you?" 

"Oh me?" 

"No, Zane the bartender..." He answered, then came back with, "of course you. I mean, you're already an engineer, now you're studying at the Academy, what's next for you?" 

Her eyes started to sparkle, "I want to build a ship." 

"Oh really? That's cool. What class?" He inquired. 

Her eyes got big and she started to smile, "it's not any class. It's a brand new ship. It's big, and it's fast and it's not like anything Starfleet or the Federation has ever seen before." 

She continued on, telling him every detail of her design. He was trying to listen but he was so smitten with her, it was hard to focus on what she was saying. She was beautiful inside and out, not to mention extremely smart. Everything about her was pure perfection to him. She wasn't like any woman he had ever met before. She actually impressed him. 

Eventually they had to say their goodbyes. Kirk returned to his ship and Danielle to her quarters at the star base. Each bid the other farewell and mutually agreed that they hoped to see each other again someday. 

The days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months. Danielle graduated from the Academy and The Enterprise began it's fourth year of its mission. They went on with their lives, but there was rarely a day that they didn't think about each other. 

Post graduation, Danielle was assigned to a earth-based research team and had begun living with her friend from college, Vulcan scientist T'Laina. 

Little by little though, as time went on and she continued with her ground assignment, Danielle began to feel that she would most likely never see the Captain again, so she started to move on with her life-thowing herself into her work and into the dating world. It was time she got over her crush. After all, she had only known him for about 3 hours. She even got T'Laina to be her wingman some nights, such as this one. However, T'Laina always found a way to foil Danielle's plans for anything to go farther than a few sentences exchanged between her and one of the many bar-hoppers in the city. 

Tonight found them at a bar outside San Fransisco, where T'Laina sat down the bar from where Danielle was flirting with a very douchey surfer type. 

"So where are you from?" He asked Danielle. 

"Texas." She answered. 

"That where you live now?" He probed, "Cause you're a long way from home." 

"No I live in San Fransisco." 

"Alone?" 

"No, I live in an apartment with my pet Vulcan," She giggled. 

"Your 'pet' Vulcan?" T'Laina chimed in, "Please dear...I feed you, I do your laundry, I clean the house-it's more like I live with my pet human." 

Danielle shot a disapproving glance at T'Laina, then turned back around, cleared her throat and smiled. 

After an awkward pause, he smiled too and went in for the next question, "So, what's it you do?" 

"Oh I'm in Starfleet-An engineer." She replied. 

"Sweet! Build anything interesting?" 

"Uh, yeah, I..." She started to answer but was cut off by T'Laina. 

"Nothing legendary or even remotely interesting, but she has a stack of papers a foot high on her desk of failed designs." 

Danielle's furrowed her eyebrows, slowly rose from the bar, and turned to face her friend, "Laina, a word?" She snarled. 

They exited the bar and she once again turned toward the Vulcan. "What the HELL are you trying to do to me?" 

"I'm unsure of what you are referring to..." T'Laina replied, stoic as always. 

"That...in there," Danielle threw her finger toward the door. "You insist on ruining EVERY opportunity I have to hook up with a guy." 

"I merely state the truth, Danielle, you are the one ruining it with your elaborate...stories." T'Laina replied. 

Danielle opened her mouth to retort but all she could do was shake her head and say, "You know what, let's just go home." 

"Are you sure?" T'Laina questioned, "Cause we could..." She trailed off, pointing at the door. 

"No, no let's just go." Danielle replied curtly, walking briskly toward the car. 

They got in the car and just sat for several seconds. T'Laina finally broke the silence, "Are we going to go?" 

"I'm a brilliant engineer, Laina." Danielle shot at her friend. 

"I cannot argue with that." 

"Furthermore," she continued, "I may not have brought a lot to the engineering community yet, but those 'drawings' have nothing to do with my engineering work. I have an overactive imagination, okay? It's okay to imagine the impossible. And I don't like you, my friend, to make me feel invalidated because I'm still a nobody. So, there. I've spoken my piece." She began to drive. 

"You are a brilliant engineer, Danielle, and you could be legendary." T'Laina said. 

Danielle looked at her, "Why am I sensing a 'but'? 

"But-the best thing I can compare you to is a mouse." 

She raised her eyebrows, "A mouse?" 

"Let me explain," T'Laina went on, "You come out of your hole, do your work, and go back in. No one notices you and no one cares. Danielle, you are one of the smartest people I have ever met, and that includes Vulcans. You could be legendary. One of the people who goes down in Starfleet history, but you need to start fighting for yourself-get noticed." 

"That's very, Un-Vulcan of you," Danielle pointed out. 

"True," T'Laina agreed, "But sometimes, I need to become more human to get through to you." 

No matter how out of character it was for T'Laina to say those things, Danielle still took her friend's words to heart. She began using her expertise to challenge her peers and even her superiors. This did not go unnoticed by anyone, and mostly drew the attention of her commanding officer, Commander Phillip Lucas, who called her to meet with him one day, after a matter of a few weeks. 

She knocked on his door and cracked it open, "You wanted to see me sir?" 

"Ah! Duvall!" He said, "Come in!" 

"Thank you sir" 

He motioned toward the chair in front of his desk, "Have a seat." 

She sat down and he began to speak. "I underestimated you, Duvall. I wanted you on this team because I knew you were good, but I wasn't aware that you were this good." 

"Thank you, sir," she said quietly. 

He continued, "it got me thinking, what are you doing here?" He paused for moment, then went on, "You could very well be one of Starfleet's best and brightest, you should be with the rest of Starfleet's best and brightest." 

She looked at him quizzically, "Sir?" 

"I've talked to my superiors, and they've given me the go-ahead to put a call into a friend of mine who's the chief engineer on a starship. He has agreed to take you on as an apprentice of sorts for a year. Your transfer is approved, Duvall, pack your things, you leave in a week." 

"Where, sir?" 

"Good question," he replied, handing her the transfer orders, "You're reporting to the Enterprise. Buckle up kid, you're flying with the big leagues now."

_**Reviews are appreciated!**_


	3. Fanning the Flame

From the shuttle window, Danielle stared at the ship that would be her home for the next year. She was almost giddy with excitement, but as a freshly-minted lieutenant, she determined it would be best if she remained as composed as possible.

The shuttle docked, and she and seven other transfers filed off. There was nothing like the feeling she had when she first set foot on the Enterprise. She had been on many starships in the past but none held a candle to Starfleet's flagship. She looked around in wonder, and she couldn't wait until she had seen every nook and cranny. But now was not the time to explore. She had to report to Engineering in a matter of hours.

As the captain, Kirk was always aware of new members of the crew, but sometimes did not learn their names, simply signing off on their arrival. A whole month passed by before he was even made aware that Danielle was aboard the ship, when a report was handed to him, signed by a "Lt. D. Duvall."

He signed off on the log, and asked the Yeoman, "Who wrote this?"

"Lieutenant Duvall, Captain," she replied as if he should know, "From engineering..." She tried to jog his memory.

He smiled slightly, "thank you," he said, as he handed her the tablet.

Later that evening he was in his quarters. He called down to Engineering.

"Kirk to Engineering."

"Scott here, captain," came the reply.

"Mr. Scott, is Lieutenant Duvall still on duty?"

"Ah no sir, she left maybe a half hour ago, probably getting something to eat I'd imagine. Is there something I can help you with sir?"

"No, Scotty, thank you." He ended the call.

Kirk exited his quarters and made his way to the Crewmans' dining area. At this time of night there usually wasn't much going on there, but he needed to find her, and for some reason he felt awkward checking her quarters first.

He arrived and proceeded to scan the large room. It appeared to be empty. He was about to leave when he heard a shuffle from the far corner-he turned to look and there she was. Her back was toward him and since she was off duty she was in civilian clothes, but it was her. She was staring out the window at the stars, sipping a cup of tea.

Smiling from ear to ear, he began to walk toward her. He was about ten paces away when he called out "Lieutenant!"

She must have been deep in thought, because she jumped at his words and her tea went flying all over her shirt. She shrieked and dropped the teacup. It hit the floor and shattered. Stunned, she looked up at him, "Captain, I..." She started.

He rushed over to her, "are you okay?" He asked.

She nodded, eyes wide, still in shock.

Noticing her feet were bare, he reached his arms out, "I'm going to have to lift you over this, do you mind?"

She shook her head, "No sir."

He proceeded to pick her up and lift her over the fragmented porcelain. He carried her a ways until he was sure she was safe from the shards, where he set her down, then she continued halfway across the room where she had left her shoes.

She put on her shoes and walked back over to where he was standing, "Sir, I'm so sorry! Ugh and embarrassed. I'm just...sorry. I made such a mess- I mean, look at me and the floor and..." She buried her head in her hands, "ugh I'm so clumsy."

"Well, this wasn't exactly how I pictured us meeting again, but no harm done." He smiled, "come on, I'll get someone to clean up the glass, and I'll take you back to your quarters."

She looked up at him, "you pictured how we'd meet again?"

He chuckled a little and nodded slightly, then said, "Come on let's get out of here."

He walked her back to her room. They did not talk much on the way, and when they arrived at her door, she squeezed his hand and gave him a simple "Thank you, goodnight."

He bid her goodnight too and started walking away, mentally kicking himself. But then his comm started beeping, "Bridge to Captain Kirk."

"Kirk here."

"Captain, in about 20 minutes we will be passing a huge nebula we haven't mapped yet. You might want to take a look, Sir, that is if you're not too busy."

"Thanks ensign, I might do that. Kirk out."

It wasn't ten minutes later that he was back at her door, bearing another cup of tea. He rang the bell.

"Come in!" He heard from the other side of the door.

The door opened and he walked through. She was sitting on her bed reading

"Captain...sir..." She started to stand.

"No please Lieutenant, sit," he said, "I just brought you some more tea"

"Oh, you didn't have to! Thank you so much." She took the cup from him.

"I also wanted to say I would really like to see you again." He paused for a moment, then continued, "I really enjoy being around you."

She smiled, "Thanks Captain, I'd like that too."

He nodded, "Okay then," he whispered, then awkwardly turned to leave.

He was about to reach the door, when she called out, "Captain!"

He turned to face her, and she continued, "You could stay for a while, if you'd like."

He raised his eyebrows, "I'm not sure that would be appropriate."

"Please Captain, just to talk," she begged, "I don't have a bunk mate right now, and I'd really like some conversation that doesn't involve a some sort of engine mechanical something-or-other. Plus...it's not like anyone has to know."

He stood in thought for a moment, then his eyes started to twinkle, "Are you up for a bit of a walk?"

"Where?" She inquired, looking at him quizzically,

"There's something I want to show you."

They made their way to a viewing deck. She was staring at him, confused. He smiled and pointed out the window. "Look," he said quietly.

There it was, giant and purple and gold and red and just-beautiful. She gasped in wonder, "What is that?"

"That's a nebula," he answered.

They sat for a while, just looking at the massive cloud. Then she broke the silence. "Wow..." She said softly, "I've never seen anything so beautiful, have you?"

He looked at her, "Yes... I believe I have actually."

She looked up at him and their eyes met for a moment. Then she broke the gaze and took a sharp breath, "I should really get to sleep, I need to report in about 6 hours."

"Oh, do you want me to walk you back to your quarters?"

"Thanks Captain, but no, I think I can find my way. Thank you so much for everything. Goodnight." And with that she started toward the door.

"Goodnight Lieutenant," He replied.

She turned and smiled sweetly, and then she was gone. Kirk was left alone in the viewing deck, still smiling from ear to ear. Then leaned against the wall and began to think. What was going on? He had never liked a person quite as much as he liked Lieutenant Duvall. What was this girl doing to him?


	4. Dared to be Great

_**Here is Chapter 4! Thanks to TheBaritone for a wonderful beta job! **_

As time went on, Danielle continued to excel in her work as an Engineer, quickly rising to Scotty's "right hand man." Things had been fairly quiet since she had arrived on the Enterprise, though, and she was getting a little tired of the daily monotony, especially since she was experiencing intermittent spasms in her hand that was limiting what she was able to do. Mr. Scott knew that she was bored, and when they came upon a seemingly dead Federation starship, the USS Zenith, he received permission to allow her to come along.

Besides herself, the landing crew consisted of the Captain, Mr. Spock, Mr. Scott, and a number of other crew members. They beamed over, not knowing what they would find.

Spock began his scans, "No life signs, Captain. It appears that we are alone."

"But what happened to them?" Kirk wondered aloud.

"It's so...eerie." Danielle said, under her breath, looking around.

"Aye..." Scott agreed.

"Spock, check the computer banks," Kirk directed, "It might give us some idea of where the crew went and how long this ship has been out here or where they might have gone. Scotty, Duvall, take Gates and Barnes and go down to engineering, see if there's anything down there that would force two hundred and fifty people out of here."

"Aye sir," They said in unison, and the two of them started down to the engineering deck.

When they arrived, everything looked normal, and they began their scans. There were some minor repairs that needed to be done, which they conducted, but there was nothing they could see that was all that wrong. Then Scotty found a problem.

"Duvall!" he called.

She came running from the other side of the room. "Yes sir?"

"Look here." He pointed.

She examined the wiring, "What the hell?"

"The ship, if we even turned on her impulse engines, she'd be..." He trailed off

"Proverbial toast," Danielle finished, then asked, "Think it can be fixed?"

"Aye," he answered, "But it'll take a steady hand. One wrong move and you're the proverbial toast. Hand me your clippers," he instructed.

She did as he said, and stood and watched as he carefully tried to make sense of the wires.

Scott had been meticulously rewiring the box for about two hours, and were about done, when suddenly, a blast hit the ship. It sent everyone flying and Danielle watched in horror as a spark of light flew out of the box and hit Scotty. Once she was able to stand back up she rushed over to him and checked his pulse. He was still alive, but unconscious.

"Kirk to Engineering!"

Danielle rushed to the wall comm, "Duvall here, sir!"

"What's going on down there, Lieutenant?"

"Scott's down, and I haven't assessed the damage from the blast yet." She paused, "What happened, sir?"

"Whoever took the crew here came back to finish the job," he replied, "The Enterprise took a few hits too. We can't beam anyone back."

Danielle was silent, trying to process, then said, "What are your orders, sir?"

He ignored her question, "Is Scotty still alive?"

"Yes sir, he's unconscious though and..."

"Duvall, we need to take action here, Can we get to warp?" He cut her off.

The line was quiet, "Duvall?"

"Comms are down sir, Crewman Blake chimed in, "We're blind and deaf." When he saw Kirk reaching for his handheld communicator, he added, "there's too much interference sir, I doubt you'll reach her with that either."

"Great," he muttered, then he got up and started for the door, "Spock, you have the conn. Blake, try to get communication reestablished at least with engineering. Preston, take the helm."

"Captain, where are you going?" Spock inquired.

"To engineering, Spock. I need to know what's going on down there if we're going to make it out of here alive."

"Captain, might I remind you that Duvall is a very capable engineer and that your presence may be more needed on the bridge." Spock said.

"Capable yes, but she's still in over her head down there, so unless one of you has some knowledge of engineering that I am not aware of, I need to go help her. He then turned to Blake, "How's reestablishing communication coming?"

"Still working on it sir."

"I don't care what you have to do, get communication back, that's an order." And with that he boarded the turbo lift.

Danielle breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the Captain walk through the doors.

"There are problems everywhere, captain, I got the shields up but we took a good hit down here before I was able to get them online. There's other things too; there's a coolant leak somewhere... I'm assessing the damage, but...

"Can we get to warp?"

She just stared at him.

"Duvall, can we get to warp?" He repeated.

"Technically we can, but I doubt we'd hold together for very long. The plasma intercooler..."

"How are the weapons?" He asked, cutting her off again.

"We have no weapons power at all. No phasers, no torpedoes, nothing."

Kirk was looking at the damage report that the computer had already generated. and Danielle continued. "I've got Barnes looking after Mr. Scott. and Gates is already working on tracking down the leak. But with the manpower I have, I don't think I can do this, sir."

"Well, it will have to work, Duvall..." Kirk stopped when he heard his comm(communicator) beeping. He picked it up. "Good job Blake."

"Thank you sir," came the reply.

He turned back to Danielle, "What needs to be done first?"

"There was a problem with some wiring... that's what Mr. Scott was working on and it has to be fixed before anything else."

"Then get on it," he ordered.

"I can't sir..." She protested, about to tell him about her hand.

"Lieutenant," he said sharply, "I realize that we are not on our own ship, things are different and you are scared, but I really don't want to die today, do you?"

"Well no sir, but..." She stopped when he grabbed her by the shoulders and stared into her scared face.

"Do not EVER tell me that you can't."

Before she could answer him, they heard Gates yell and something. Kirk and Danielle ran over to where they had heard it. found him lying on the ground. Danielle let out a small shriek.

Kirk bent down to check his pulse, "He's dead. His neck is broken."

Danielle stared at the body in horror. Kirk looked up at her; her face was white as a ghost and he could tell she was about to faint.

"No...NO, Duvall, do not pass out on me!" He stood up and grabbed her just as she was about to collapse.

She looked up, not at him, but past him, "There it is..." she said softly.

Kirk turned his head to try and see what she saw, "What?"

"The leak. He found it. I can fix that." She pulled away from him and started climbing the ladder to where the leak was. She looked down at the Captain, "Tell Barnes to finish what Scott was doing. He's been working under Scott; he'll know what he's doing."

Kirk got on his communicator right away and gave Barnes the instructions. It was not long until Danielle had finished the repairs. She climbed back down the ladder and grabbed her communicator.

"Duvall to Preston"

"Preston here."

"Okay, Preston I need you to keep the line open and listen to me and follow what I say to the letter..." She continued to give the helmsman direction(directions), and Kirk kept looking around. There were sparks flying everywhere. It didn't look like anything would work, let alone get to warp, but he chose to put his trust in the woman in front of him, who(the woman who) seriously impressed him with her sudden poise in what was probably the most stressful time of her life.

Eventually there seemed to be hope – they were at warp, and communications were still broken, were being reestablished with the Enterprise. Kirk couldn't have been prouder of the skeleton crew. Then it all came to nought when another blast hit them, knocking their shields offline, and then another one, severely damaging the engine, and throwing the two of them across the floor. When they came to their senses and got up, Danielle looked around. There was nothing she could do. She turned to the Captain, defeated.

"Go back to the bridge."

"No, I'm not going to leave you here," he said.

She stepped closer to him, "A captain should be on the bridge when he goes down, even if it's not his ship. So go. Go!"

She began to cry softly as he turned and walked away. She turned the other direction so as to not watch him leave-it was too hard. Then she heard him call, "Danielle!"and she turned back around. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Me too." She replied, tears still running down her face. For a few seconds they just stood there, across the room from one another, staring at each other through the sparks and small fires. Then she started walking toward him, saying, "Oh what the hell, we're gonna die anyway."

He watched her, quizzically, and when she reached him, she grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him in for a kiss. To her surprise, he kissed her back. They were so out of touch with everything except each other, that when they finally stopped, much to their chagrin, they were in the Enterprise transporter room.

Everyone in the room was standing there awkwardly, staring. Kirk pushed her away and cleared his throat and Danielle turned beet red and ran out so fast she almost left a trail of light behind her.

"Well...that just happened..." Uhura said under her breath. Kirk, Spock and the remaining crewmen stepped off the transporter pad, and Kirk gave her the "Shut up" eye.

Kirk directed Spock and the crewmen to med bay and McCoy immediately started tending to Mr. Scott. He got the injured engineer on a gurney and wheeled him out. Kirk then addressed Sulu, who stood nearby, "Status report?"

"Repairs are underway, sir," Sulu replied, following Kirk as he started to walk. "We took a few hits but nothing we couldn't handle."

"And the ship that attacked?"

"We tried hailing them several times, sir," Uhura responded, trying to keep up with the captain's fast pace. "There was no response."

"They kept firing. They seemed really intent on destroying the Zenith." Sulu added, "We didn't want to but we had to destroy them, sir."

Kirk turned his head to see them as he walked, "Thank you. Your actions today were commendable." Then he got back to business. "Uhura, get a message to the Duvall to report to Med Bay for or for an examination. I think she took the most hits over there."

"Aye sir."

Later that night, Kirk rang the bell to Danielle's room. He heard a faint, "Come in," so he walked through the door. He found her on her bed lying on her side with her knees bent, still in her messed up uniform. She had one pillow under her head and she was clinging to another as if for dear life. He could tell she had been crying.

"Lieutenant..." he said.

"Captain, I'm-I'm sorry," she sniffed, "I can't get up."

"You can't get up?"

"I can't move...I just...I can't. It's too much."

He knelt down by her bed so that his face was level with hers, "You did good today, Duvall. For your first landing mission, you got thrown right into the fire and you did excellent."

"Seriously?" She scoffed as a fresh wave of tears came over her. "A man is dead because of me."

"Hey, you do not get to take the blame for that. As the captain that death is on me if it's on anyone."

She continued as if she hadn't heard him. "And Mr. Scott...who knows if he'll ever be okay again? The only reason he was even messing with that box is because I couldn't because of my stupid hand."

"Scotty will be fine," he assured her, "And as your captain, I could not be prouder."

Slowly, Danielle started to sit up. She sat on her bed and looked at him, "I'm really sorry about the kiss. I put you in a really compromising position and I feel bad."

He smiled a little, "It's fine, we thought we were going to die and you just acted. It was actually very nice. I wouldn't have minded going out that way. But..." He paused, then continued, "If you'd rather forget about it, then consider it forgotten."

She smiled slightly back at him. "Okay," she said quietly.

He stood up, "I'm going to go. You get some rest and take care of yourself. But I need you in Engineering bright and early because you're in charge till Scotty's back on his feet."

"Yes sir."

He started toward the door. Danielle looked up, "Captain?" her voice cracked.

He turned. "Yes?"

"Please don't forget."

_**REVIEWS ARE SO VERY MUCH APPRECIATED! XOXOXOXO**_


	5. Learning to Fall

_**Hi y'all! Here's Chapter 5! I suppose I should mention I don't own Star Trek or any of the Characters except Danielle Duvall.**_

_**Thanks to Mammps for helping me with flow and TheBaritone for being my amazing grammar police. Really appreciate it!**_

Three days later, Danielle was sitting in Engineering, flexing her hand in front of her. Her whole arm was starting to spasm intermittently, and the muscles felt tight. Then her comm beeped.

"McCoy to Duvall."

She picked up her communicator,

"Duvall here."

"You better get down to Med Bay, Lieutenant. I think I know what's wrong with your hand."

"You found the problem with my hand?!" Danielle rushed into Med Bay five minutes later, her face glowing with excitement.

"I did," Doctor McCoy replied, "what I can't figure out is how you got it."

"Got what? What do you mean?"

"You are having a very rare viral reaction to a plant, most commonly known to us as the Risan Rose. But we haven't been to Risa so I don't know where you would have gotten it. Plus," the doctor added, "it's very rare that anyone actually shows any viral symptoms."

Danielle thought for a moment, "I don't think I've been in contact with ANY plants lately. Can it be fixed?"

"Thankfully yes but a few more days would have had it reaching your heart and it could have been fatal. you need to get plenty of rest, drink a lot of fluids and come see me for treatment twice a day for five days," McCoy instructed as he gave her an injection in her arm, "your arm should start to feel better right away, though you may feel some other side effects..."

Once he had finished listing the side effects, she hopped down off the table where she was sitting, "Thanks, doc," she smiled and bounded out the door. She almost ran into the captain as he was coming into the Medical office.

"Captain," she acknowledged him awkwardly.

"Lieutenant," he greeted her back with an equal amount of awkwardness, "did you-did you do something different with your hair?"

She patted her braided updo, "Uh, no, same as always," she replied.

"Hm. Okay." He said, "Well good seeing you."

She smiled weakly, "thanks," she muttered, and with that she left.

Kirk turned to McCoy, who had just witnessed the whole exchange. McCoy raised an eyebrow, "care to share what that was all about?"

Kirk furrowed his forehead and shot a glance back at the door, "I don't know, Bones. Ever since the Zenith she's just been different. Very uptight around me."

"I'm sure she'll get over it," McCoy muttered, then said aloud, so what can I do you for?"

Kirk explained his ailment, which was a pulled muscle, but he couldn't stop thinking about Danielle's attitude toward him. He had really thought they had connected on a deeper level that night after the ordeal on the Zenith, and he didn't understand where this coldness was coming from. He had to know.

After the Doctor treated him, he went to Engineering. Danielle was walking around with a tablet, checking gauges and pumps, and making sure everything was in working order. He could tell she was busy, but went up to her anyway. He also noticed her face was very flush. "Hey," he said

She did not look up,and kept checking things and writing, but she did acknowledge him with , "Hi captain, do you need something?"

"No," he replied, "just wondering how you're doing as interim chief."

She moved away from the gauge she was checking and began to inspect another "Fine, everything's just fine." She answered.

"Good, good," he paused, then said, "so good news, Scotty should be up and ready to work again in a day or so."

"Captain," she said sharply, then paused what she was doing and looked up at him, "with all due respect, if you're just here to make small talk, I'm going to have to ask you nicely to leave. I'm extremely busy." She moved on to the next gauge.

He followed her, he started to notice that her face was becoming more flush and beads of sweat were forming around her sideburns "are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah I'm just fine, why?" She replied coldly.

"You look a little, um, sick."

"Must just be the side effects of that medicine the doctor gave me," she answered his concern, brushing the sweat off her brow, "Now please," she gave him a weak, yet sarcastic smile, " with all due respect, leave."

"No."

She raised her eyebrows at him, "No?"

It was then that Kirk decided to go in for the kill, "We almost died, Danielle, then you kissed me and then you asked me to not forget. Now you're not yourself at all and I'd really like to know what's going on with you."

She scoffed, "Now is not the time or place, Captain."

"Then just answer me this, "why was it so damn important that I don't forget that kiss?"

"Oh my god, Jim," she turned toward him and blew up, "I was stupid and vulnerable and I acted impulsively. Forget the kiss for all I care. It was just a stupid kiss."

Kirk took a step back, "okay then, consider it forgotten." He said, with an air of defensiveness in his voice. He turned and walked away.

Danielle watched him leave. She felt numb and had no idea why she had said the things she had said. Her feelings toward him were so confusing she did not know what to make of them. There was only one person that could help her gain perspective and straighten out her thoughts. She called that person as soon as she was off duty for the night. The face came up on the screen and Danielle smiled.

"Hello Danielle," the voice came through.

"Hello, Laina."

T'Laina cocked her head, "If I can ask, are you feeling alright?"

Danielle wiped more sweat off her head, "Yeah, I feel fine, but I really need help."

An hour passed with T'Laina reasoning with her and helping her sort her thoughts out. The conversation concluded and Danielle knew she needed to find him before she lost her nerve. She felt awful. She had chills and a headache and her stomach hurt, but she brushed it off as the side effects of the drug that McCoy had given her mixed with her nerves. She went up to his deck and rang at his quarters. He was not there. She commed the bridge, and he wasn't there either. Then she realized that she knew where to find him. She made her way up to the viewing deck and there he was, sitting on the floor against the wall, reading a book.

A bout of nausea took over her body so leaned against the doorway as she tried to fight through it, "I thought I'd find you here," she said quietly, once the nausea had passed. He looked up from his book, but did not say anything, so she continued to speak, shakily, "I wanted to apologize for my behavior today in engineering. It was unprofessional and I'm sorry." When he still didn't speak, she asked, "may I come in?"

"It's a public space," he said coldly.

She crossed the threshold and sat down next to him on the floor. He kept reading and she sat in silence next to him, then drew a deep breath and spoke. "It wasn't just a stupid kiss."

His head shot up and he looked at her, "what?"

"Let me start from the beginning," she said, "My family has been in Starfleet since it began. The only reason I even got into Starfleet is because my father is James Duvall. I also have an older half-brother, Adam, who is a textbook perfect officer. You probably know him, he commands the USS Regal."

"Yes I know of him, but..." Kirk was cut off by Danielle.

"Starfleet basically couldn't NOT take me, because of who my dad is. And I may be one of the best engineers in Starfleet but that's only because I was expected to live up to the Duvall standard. I was treated differently because of it. They expected more of me. It didn't help that my mother was Jade Luca, one of the best engineers Starfleet had at the time."

"I really don't see where you're going with this," Kirk said.

"Let me finish," she replied, "My career is everything to me. I'm not here because of my parents. I worked my ass off to be where I am. All I want is to be a respected member of Starfleet in my own rite, and I think I can finally start getting there with an assignment aboard a ship most people could only dream of being on. I love my work, my job, this ship, I absolutely have fallen in love with this ship and I love working on her..." She trailed off, "and there's really only one downside to that."

"What's that?" He asked.

"I've fallen even more in love with her Captain."

His eyes were glued on her now, waiting for her to say more. She changed from sitting on the floor to sitting on her knees next to him, facing his direction, then she continued.

"I am working so hard to break free of my family's shadow, I cannot jeapordize that by getting involved with my superior officer. The rumors would swirl at home and here saying that I thought I could get away with it because I was the spoiled only daughter of Admiral Duvall. I can't do that to myself and I can't do that to you. But I kissed you on the Zenith because we were going to die, and in that moment, I knew my career was over and all I wanted was to be with you." Tears started running down her face.

He got up and knelt too, facing her. He put his hands on either side of her face and pressed his forehead to hers. She placed her hands on top of his, and whispered through her tears, "All I wanted was to be with you because I love you so much-" but she was cut off by him kissing her.

She kissed him back, and he went in for more but she pulled away. He noticed that she did not look very good. Her face was flush and he could tell she was starting to sweat again, "Hey are you okay? You don't look so good," he said as he brushed a sweaty piece of hair out of her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just- I can't do this, Jim." She stood up and took a step back, "I-I have to go to Med Bay for treatment for my hand-I have to go." She started toward the door and stumbled, grabbing the door frame for support.

Kirk stood up, "Danielle are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes!" she snapped, "I just need to get something for these side effects." As the nausea subsided, she let go of the door and rushed away.

He leaned against the wall, trying to take in everything that had just transpired. He understood her completely, because he loved nothing like he loved his ship, and a real, human relationship, especially with a subordinate would be seriously detrimental to not only his reputation, but to his devotion to his ship. He knew this all to well because he had experienced it with his former flame, Carol Marcus.

He was awoken from his train of deep thought when the comm beeped. It was McCoy, "Jim, I think you better come down to Med Bay."

Kirk rushed to Med Bay, and flew through the doors. He stopped dead in his tracks though when he saw Danielle lying on a bed, unconscious.

"Wha...what?" Kirk was too out of breath to get the words out.

"She came in for treatment and just collapsed," McCoy informed him."

"I was just with her, she said she was fine, that it was just side effects!" Kirk's voice was laced with worry, " what's wrong with her?"

"From the best I can tell, it's a mutated strain of vegan choriomenangitis." McCoy answered, "it's more aggressive than anything I've seen. Its done in eight hours what a normal strain would do in thirty-six."

"Can you cure her?" Kirk asked.

"I'm working on it, Jim, but I have to tell you I don't think of have enough time."

"First the muscular virus, now this...how is this happening to her?" Kirk muttered.

"Captain, if I may," a voice came from behind him. It was Spock. Kirk turned to hear what he had to say.

Spock continued, "it would appear as though someone may be intentionally trying to harm Lieutenant Duvall."

Kirk stood for a moment looking at the girl lying helpless on the hospital bed, he took a breath then turned to McCoy and Spock, "you," he said sharply, pointing to McCoy, "fix her. Spock, come with me." He started toward the door.

"Might I inquire as to where we are going, Captain?" Spock asked.

"We're going to find the bastard that did this to her. And then I'm going to find out why, and then I'm going to kill him."

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	6. Darkness to Light

_**Here's Chapter 6! Thanks so much everyone for your patience! I had horrible writer's block—and then my computer broke (it's still broken), so I could only use my phone and brief, three-ish minute downtimes at work. **_

_**Thanks so much to TheBaritone and Mammps, I am so lucky to be working with you both!**_

_**So without further ado...**_

"I-I don't understand what happened," Danielle said to McCoy as she lay in the recovery bed in Med Bay, looking very confused, "I was out for three weeks? How did I get sick? I don't understand."

"None of us do, Lieutenant," The doctor said as he checked her vitals again, "Every single person on this ship is baffled. You were as good as dead three weeks ago. Somehow your body put itself into a coma and you recovered. You're a goddamn medical miracle."

"But how did I get sick?" She asked again.

"The best we can figure, is that you picked something up before you came aboard this ship. How or why, we do not know." He explained as he completed her body scan.

She sighed, "Can I go back to work now?" She asked impatiently, trying to sit up.

"Not so fast, young lady." He said as he pushed her back onto her pillow, "You're not out of the woods yet. It'll be a few more weeks."

"A few more weeks?" She echoed, disbelievingly, glaring at him, "That's ridiculous doctor, I feel fine, great actually."

"Yeah, well why don't you tell me that again when you try to stand on your feet for more than five seconds." The doctor remarked. When she continued to glare, he added, "You're welcome to try."

She determinedly sat up in the bed and swung her legs over the side. She stood up, "See, I'm fine." She said.

The doctor chuckled quietly and turned to place his instrument on the table behind him, "And three...two...one..." he muttered.

"Oh...whoa...whoaaaa!" She shreiked, When McCoy turned around, she was leaning against her bed, "I'm a little dizzy!" she said.

He rushed to help her. When he had gotten her back onto the bed, she slumped, with a defeated frown, "What's wrong with me?" she asked, almost exasperated.

"Lieutenant, you had the worst case of Vegan Choriomenangitis that anyone has ever recovered from to my knowledge. You have been in a coma for three weeks with nothing solid going into your system. You have no strength left.

"Now that you mention it," she yawned, " I'm kinda tired, I think I'll take a nap." She closed her eyes and rested her head back on her pillow. Within seconds she was asleep.

McCoy left the room, and found Kirk waiting outside the door.

"What did you tell her?" Kirk asked.

"The truth—as I know it," McCoy replied, "but Jim, you and I both know that you talked to the Admiral, and whatever you're telling me is not the goddamn truth."

Kirk gazed through the viewing window at the sleeping woman, "It's better for all of us if it stays that way." He sighed, then he turned to the doctor, "Let me know when she wakes up?" He requested.

"Jim-" McCoy began, but was cut off by the captain.

"Just let me know when she wakes up, okay? I have to get back to the bridge." He said, and then left the room before McCoy could reply.

As he walked down the corridor to the turbo lift, Kirk thought back over the past three weeks. It had not been easy to give up the fact that this was a premeditated act by someone wishing to do her harm, but no evidence pointed to this conclusion other than the fact that Danielle happened to contract two rare viruses in the matter of a few days. Everywhere they turned seemed to hit a dead end. That was when McCoy called him down to the Med bay...

_What the doctor had discovered was more shocking than Kirk had anticipated._

"I ran her DNA through the database eight times. Eight times Jim. She's not related to Admiral Duvall in any way." McCoy said.

"Is she human?" Kirk asked, after taking a moment to process.

"Well that's the other thing," McCoy replied, as he pulled up a 3d rendition of Danielle's DNA, "She is-mostly. But there are abnormalities in her DNA that make me think that either this girl has a distant alien ancestor, or she's been genetically altered."

Kirk stared at the computer screen for a moment, then said quietly, "The Duvall's are one of the most high profile families in Starfleet. I remember when I was nine or ten, hearing from my mother that there was some scandal with the Family...The admiral's wife and kids left him..." He trailed off, then took a sharp breath and finished, "There was a lot of hush hush around it, only reason I know is because my mom served under him."

"You think this is what it's about?" McCoy questioned.

"I don't know," Kirk sighed, "but I think it's time I had a word with the admiral."

"Ya think?" McCoy muttered sarcastically.

"Yes." He replied shortly, then activated the comm on mccoys desk, "Uhura, contact Starfleet command and get Admiral James Duvall on the line. Once you have him send it to my quarters."

"Aye sir," came the reply.

He then addressed McCoy again, "I'll tell you what I find out, Bones." With that, he rushed out of Med Bay and down to his quarters. By the time he reached his quarters, his comm was beeping to receive the patch through from the bridge. Kirk pressed the button to accept the call, and the admiral's face came on the screen.

"Jim," the admiral greeted him, "I wasn't expecting to hear from you. How are you?"

"This isn't a social call, sir, it's about your daughter." Kirk informed him.

Duvall's eyes got wide, "Is she alright? What happened?" He asked.

"She's alive, but she's not alright." Kirk answered, "But in the process of trying to save her, McCoy found something most interesting."

"What's that?"

"She's not your daughter," Kirk paused for a moment, waiting for a reaction from the admiral, when he got none, he continued, "you already knew that, didn't you sir."

The admiral was beginning to look uncomfortable, but he did not say a word, so Kirk went on, "We also discovered that she isn't quite human. But you already knew that too, didn't you."

Duvall shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "What's your point, Jim?"

"Id love to ask you what was so important to cover up that you' were willing to lose your family over it, but we'll save that for another day. Danielle is dying, sir, and if we have any chance of saving her, I'm going to need to know exactly what she is so that McCoy can synthesize an antidote," Kirk answered.

The admiral stared at his lap for several seconds, "She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen," he muttered.

"Excuse me sir?"

He looked up to face Jim, "Jade. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever met." He drew a sharp breath, as to keep himself from crying, then continued, "I found her and her daughter in a corn field in Texas. Her ship had crash landed and went undetected by all of our sensors. Their technology is so far beyond ours, it's-it's mind blowing."

Kirk raised his eyebrows, "Go on," he said.

"She spoke broken English, but she begged me to help her," Duvall continued, "She told me that if she went back to where she was from, they'd take her daughter and she'd never see her again."

"Where was she from?" Kirk interjected. 

_"I can't tell you that," the admiral replied. _

__

"Why? Why did you cover it up?" Kirk probed.

"Jim, stop asking questions, that's an order. What I did was for the good of this planet and to keep Dani safe. Please," he begged, "trust me on this one, son. There are people who would go to the ends of the universe to do Dani harm and you need to just know that everything I do is to keep her safe. I know it's not in your nature to blindly trust, but I made a promise to Jade, and I cannot break that promise. It would put Dani in more danger than she's already in." 

__

Although his whole nature wanted to fight the admiral, something inside him knew that it would be better if he didn't. He sighed, "do you know how to save her?"

"No," Duvall answered, "but my girl is stronger than you think. She'll save herself. And Jim," He paused, then continued, "Don't dig into this. I promise you, some things are better off left alone." 

_Jim, seeing that he could get no more out of the admiral, disconnected the line. He sat at his desk in silence for a moment with his head in his hands. Then he stood up as to leave, but turned around and kicked his chair. As if that was not enough to get his rage out, he shoved everything off his desk onto the floor, then turned and stormed out of his quarters and headed back to med bay. _

"_Bones!" He shouted as he stormed into Med Bay, "Bones!"_

_McCoy came around the corner and nearly collided with Kirk, "Good god, man, slow down!" He said sharply._

"_You are going to fix her, Bones," Kirk said, out of breath, "Fix her or I swear to god I-"_

"_Jim," McCoy cut him off, "it's too late."_

Back in the present, Kirk had reached the bridge and had gone over that day several times in his head, oblivious to his surroundings for several hours. His comm beeped and startled him back into reality. It was McCoy, letting him know that Danielle was awake.

He made his way back to Med Bay, and when he got there, Danielle was awake, alert, and fiery as ever. She was on a call with engineering. He hid behind the corner and listened to her talk, chuckling to himself.

"No, it's not the converter...How do I know that? Because I fixed the converter a month ago...What do you mean how do I know it's not broken again? What do you think I did, fix it blindfolded with paper glue? That thing will last ten years if maintained properly...What's your name? Lieutenant Commander Caitlin Gale? Listen, Ma'am I am very good at what I do and with all due respect and to be frank, I find your tone with me a little offensive...Check the intake...No I'm serious it's an intake issue...Trust me, if I'm wrong you can say 'I told you so' but I know those engines like the back of my...NO it's not the converter!" He heard her click off the comm, "UGGGH!" She uttered angrily.

Kirk came out from behind the corner. Her face softened when she saw him, "Captain!" she exclaimed.

"I see you're skirting around your orders to stay away from work." He said.

"Well who is that Gale person and where's Scott?" She asked.

"Caitlin Gale is the interim chief of engineering. Scotty had to take a short leave for a—personal matter." Kirk replied.

"She's the most idiotic engineer I have ever met. Where did you find her, under a rock?" Danielle asked, sarcastically.

Kirk avoided her question and changed the subject, "How are you feeling?"

"Great," she replied shortly, "In a few days I'm sure I can return to duty. The doctor says it's going to take weeks but that's just ridiculous in my opinion. I mean I feel great. I'm awake, I'm alert, I have all of my mental faculties, if I could just get over this stupid dizziness when I stand up, I'd be..." She stopped short of finishing her sentence when she noticed the way Kirk was looking at her, "Jim, why are you staring at me like I'm about to grow wings and a tail?" She asked.

Kirk broke his gaze, "Sorry," he said, "I'm just glad you're ok—You were really sick Danielle."

She smiled softly at him, "I know. McCoy keeps walking around and muttering that I'm a 'goddamn medical miracle.'" she laughed, "apparently I'm really fortunate to be alive."

Kirk heard her, but did not reply, he was thinking back on when McCoy had told him it was too late to save her.

"_It's too late." McCoy told the captain_

"_What do you mean it's too late?" Kirk said, trying to push past the doctor, who was holding him back, "Let me through Bones, I want to see her."_

"_Jim, grab a hold of yourself, man," Bones said, still holding Kirk back, "What the hell is wrong with you? Duvall is in a coma. She's highly contagious. I cannot let anyone in there except medical personnel." _

_Kirk stopped fighting the doctor, "You mean—you mean she's not dead?" he stammered._

"_Not yet," the doctor affirmed, "But I've done all I can do. She's still alive but she probably doesn't have much time left. I'm so sorry, Jim"_

_Kirk slumped into a nearby chair, "How long?" He asked. _

"_Six, maybe eight hours." McCoy answered._

_Kirk stood up again, looking at the McCoy with the most sad, defeated eyes that the doctor had ever seen, "Thank you, Bones," he said softly, and left the medical bay. _

_It was not even four hours later when the doctor frantically called him back to Med Bay. Kirk rushed through the doors and stopped in his tracks when he saw Danielle out of isolation, still comatose, but nonetheless, alive. _

_The doctor shook his head in amazement, "I don't know how, Jim," he sighed, "but I think she's improving."_

"_How?" Kirk wondered aloud, "Was it something you did?"_

"_We may never know," the doctor replied, "But Jim, I think she may be okay."_

Kirk was awoken from his thoughts by Danielle snapping her fingers in front of his face, "Hey, Earth to Jim Kirk!" she said. He started, then smiled at her. She smiled back, "You were somewhere else for a second," she chuckled.

Without speaking, Kirk grabbed her in his arms. She hesitantly hugged him back. Then he said, "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

"Okay," She answered reluctantly.

Kirk pulled back from the embrace, "Is everything alright?" he asked, concerned.

Danielle sighed, "Yes, I mean, no, I mean, I said a lot of things the night I got sick and I think a lot of it had to do with the fever, but now just don't know where we stand." When Kirk said nothing, she went on, "It was probably stupid. You're the captain and I'm three ranks below you. That's against the rules in Starfleet. It would never work anyway so I'm just going to forget about it..."

Kirk cut her off by planting a kiss right on her lips. He then looked a very startled Danielle in the eyes.

"I—Love you." He said simply.

"You do?" she squeaked.

He nodded affirmatively, "Screw rank. Screw regulations. If you are up for trying to make this work, then so am I."

_**Reviews are so very much appreciated! If you take the time to read, please take just another second to review! Even if you hate it, I still want to hear!**_

_**By the way, **__**I don't own Star Trek, but I do own Danielle Duvall, Admiral Duvall and Caitlin Gale, who will be making a much larger appearance later in the story.**_

_**Chapter 7 will be along soon. Stay tuned! **_


	7. Bottomless Pit

**_Hi y'all, so due to unforeseen circumstances, this may be the last chapter I write for awhile. I hate to leave on such a cliffhanger, but I need to take some time away from stuff and focus on my family 110% right now. Here's chapter 7, and I'll be back with more before long. _**

"This is soooo stupid," Danielle complained as McCoy ran another scan of her vitals, "I have been awake for two weeks. I'm so bored, I can't sleep anymore because all you let me do is rest. I'm glad to finally be back in my own quarters, but I need to go back to work. Please let me!" She begged.

The doctor shook his head, "We had this same conversation yesterday, Duvall," He reminded her, "You failed your initial stress test. I can't sign off on you returning to duty until you get much better results. You're not confined to this room though. You can go anywhere you want on the ship. I actually encourage you to go to the gym. Just don't overdo it. Maybe a short walk or some light weights would be good. You need to be careful though because I'm still a little worried about your blood pressure."

"I failed my stress test because I'm stressed," She muttered, " And my blood pressure is up because there's a dimwit running engineering. It's a wonder we haven't exploded yet."

The doctor raised his eyebrows, shook his head and sighed, "Oh she's not that bad kid, I think you should give her a little more credit. Now get some rest." He turned and left her quarters.

"Like you didn't even hear me. All I freaking do is rest." Danielle huffed again and flopped back on her pillow with her arms crossed, "And I'm not going to change my mind about Gale!" She shouted as the door closed behind McCoy.

"You're acting like you're ten." A voice rang out from beneath her bed once the doctor had left. It was Kirk, who had had to find a quick hiding place when the doctor had showed up unannounced.

"I feel ten," she retorted, then mimicking the doctor, "Do this Duvall, don't do that, don't run Duvall, walk, eat this Duvall, sleep Duvall, wake up Duvall, Sit down, stand up, turn around, jump..." She trailed off with an exasperated sigh. Then she hopped out of bed and started to change her clothes.

Where are you going?" Kirk asked, sliding out from underneath the bed.

"To the gym. I can't stay here another minute. I need to get back to work so that we don't explode." She replied as she threw on her black Starfleet issued sweatshirt.

"Dani-" Kirk started, then trailed off, "never mind."

"No, what?" Danielle prodded.

Kirk sighed, "You don't even know Gale. I think you're being a little quick to pass judgment."

"Why is everyone defending her?" Danielle muttered under her breath., then said aloud, "You're welcome to join me at the gym if you want."

"Uhhh..." He hesitated.

"What?" She questioned.

"I just had to dive under your bed because Bones showed up. I don't think we should be seen in public together." He pointed out, "Plus," he added, " I have a starship to command."

"Okay, well, suit yourself," She said, and gave him a peck on the cheek before starting toward the door.

"Dani..." He started again as he grabbed her hand, spun her around and planted a kiss on her lips.

"Wow," She breathed, looking up at him and smiling, "I should really kiss you more often

"You really should," he agreed, and kissed her again.

She pulled away and looked at his face, "I'm sorry, did you want me to stay?" She asked.

He shook his head, "No, I have to get back to the bridge. I've barely seen you in days so just wanted to come down here and tell you how much I love you."

"Aw, thanks," She smiled, "Love you too. Catch you later?"

He nodded "Meet me at my quarters around 1900 hours. We can have dinner together." he said, and started for the door. Danielle followed him out the door and they parted ways.

Twenty minutes later found Danielle clipping at a decent pace on the treadmill. She could feel her blood rushing and her heart working double time. As someone who had been physically fit her whole life, she felt at home again as she worked out. She could tell that she was not at her physical peak, but hat did not stop her.

She was eventually joined by a medium height, dishwater blonde woman she had never seen before. The woman hopped onto the treadmill that was next to Danielle's and began to run. Danielle tried to match the woman's pace, speeding up as she did, the woman noticed what Danielle was doing, looked at her and smiled, and began running faster. Danielle followed suit. This routine went on for quite some time, until Danielle began to feel fuzzy. Next thing she knew, she was on the floor with a very sore head, staring at the ceiling, dazed. The woman was crouching over her, shaking her shoulder.

"Hey, hey!" she said hoarsely, still shaking Danielle's shoulder, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Um..." Danielle tried to answer, but could not quite formulate her thoughts into a sentence. She tried to sit up but the woman pushed her back down.

"No, don't get up. Let me get medics," the woman said, as she got up and rushed to the wall comm, "Gale to Med Bay, I need a doctor on Deck 20 in the rec room."

Danielle overheard the woman's name-Gale. "Oh you've got to be kidding me," She muttered, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

It was at that moment that Kirk came through the doors, unaware of what had just happened. His eyes got wide when he saw Gale at the comm and Danielle on the floor. His eyes got wide, "Caitlin," He started toward Danielle, "What the hell happened?" He asked as he knelt down next to her.

Danielle opened her eyes and squinted at the Captain, then closed her eyes again and quipped with a smirk, "I thought you said you had a starship to command."

Before he could answer, Caitlin walked back over to them, "Med team should be here any minute." She informed them, "And I don't know what happened, Captain, she was fine and then she just, passed out."

"Can I get up yet?" Danielle moaned impatiently.

"No," Kirk and Caitlin replied simultaneously.

McCoy and two members of his medical team burst through the rec room doors, "What did I tell you about working too hard, Kid? He said gruffly as He knelt down next to her and started a scan, "Can I say 'I told you so' yet?"

"Fine," she sighed, "you win." She closed her eyes and waited for him to complete the body scan.

"Well you're lucky. You've got a small concussion but nothing major. You'll have a nice bump to remind you for awhile though." McCoy said.

"Can I get up _now?" _Danielle asked again, stressing the 'now.'

The doctor nodded affirmatively, and Danielle began to sit up. "Slowly, slowly," Kirk cautioned, quickly catching her as she shot up up off the floor.

"I know, Jim," she said as she removed his hands.

McCoy and his team left with Danielle, after determining that she should come to Med Bay for observation. Gale and Kirk watched them leave. As soon as they were out of earshot, Gale leaned over to Kirk, "Jim, huh?" she said.

"Excuse me?"

"She called you Jim," Gale clarified.

"Oh...yeah, I'm friends with her, um, dad, we go way back," Jim brushed off her observation uncomfortably with the half-truth, "I have to get back to the bridge. Have a good day, Miss Gale."

That night, Danielle waited for Jim in his quarters, as they had planned to meet there. 1900 hours came and went with no sign of him. When he eventually showed up, neither of them were hungry, and he was too tired to even try to stay awake. They made plans for the next night, and the same thing happened. After a week, she was there again, waiting as the hours passed. At one point she was about to leave, but then decided to wait ten more minutes. She laid down on his bed. Next thing she knew, he was shaking her awake, "Dani...Dani, honey wake up." He said softly, his hand gently shaking her shoulder.

"No, I don't wanna," She groaned and rolled over.

"You can't stay here," he laughed, "As much as I want you to stay, you have to go back to your room."

Danielle opened her eyes and started to sit up, "I waited and waited for you and you never came." She said sleepily.

"I'm sorry," Kirk apologized, "If I could've been here, I would have. But uou know I..."

"I know, I know," Danielle cut him off, "You're the captain of the Enterprise, and as long as we are on here, she has to come first. You're really lucky I'm so understanding, but I;m getting tired of feeling like I'm sharing you with another woman."

"We knew this was going to be hard," He reminded her.

"Yeah," She sighed, I just wish it wasn't this hard."

She exited the captain's quarters, looking both ways before walking out the door, to ensure that no one was watching. When she was sure all was clear, she started down the hall toward the turbo lift. She was almost to the lift when she heard a voice behind her.

"Lieutenant!"

Danielle turned to find the voice. It was Gale, "Lieutenant Commander," She said, "you startled me!"

"Sorry," Gale apologized, "What are you doing on this deck at this time of night?"

"Oh, um...the-the Captain wanted to speak to me." Danielle answered hesitantly.

"In his quarters?" Gale asked, skeptically.

"It was a personal visit," Danielle replied, then realizing that Gale would require some sort of clarification, quickly came up with something, "About my father. My father's sick." She waited nervously for Gale's response, hoping that her superior officer would buy her story. After a few moments that seemed like an eternity, Gale finally reacted. Her face softened and she opened her arms and took Danielle in an embrace.

"Oh my gosh sweetie I'm so, so sorry!" Gale exclaimed.

Danielle awkwardly hugged her back, "Um...thanks?" She replied, unsure of why this woman was hugging her., but she did not have to wait long for an explanation.

Gale backed away from Danielle, "I totally thought you were sleeping with the Captain." She confessed sheepishly.

Danielle nervously chuckled, "Ha no...goodness no. Never have." Now that _was _the truth, not that it was anyone's business.

"Oh my god, is your dad okay?" Gale asked, still flustered, "I totally should ask you that. I get so flustered when I'm embarrassed"

"Oh, yeah," Danielle answered, "He's okay. Thought it was something with his heart but looks like he'll be fine." _Wow I'm way too good of a liar, _She thought to herself.

"Oh good," Gale sighed in relief, then changed the subject, "I was on my way to go get some tea, but now I'm thinking wine. I know it's late but, do you want to go drink with me?"

Danielle smiled, "That is exactly what I need right now," she said, "Let's go."

Several minutes later found the two women in the crewman's lounge, drinking and laughing together. They were both engineers, so it turned out they had a lot in common. Danielle started to realize that Caitlin Gale may not be so bad after all. In fact, she actually liked her, maybe.

"So Danielle, where are you from?" Gale inquired.

"Dallas," Danielle answered, "you?"

"Riverside, Iowa." Gale said, then added, "Kirk and I knew each other pretty well. Went to school together, ran with the same crowd growing up, yeah we even dated."

Danielle's eyes got wide and she took a big gulp of her wine in an attempt to hide her discomfort at the direction the conversation was going,, "Is that so?" she squeaked after she swallowed.

"Yeah, junior and senior year. He was a wild one.," She scoffed, "No clue why I stayed with him for so long.

Danielle cleared her throat and took another sip of wine, but did not say anything.

Gale let out a long sigh, "I guess when you're in love, your decisions don't make sense."

"You—you were in love with him?" Danielle stammered.

Gale nodded affirmatively, "But I was seventeen, who really knows what they want at that age?" She wondered aloud.

"Why'd you break up?" Danielle asked, then, quickly said, "sorry that's really none of my business."

"Oh no it's okay, um I guess I just grew out of it. He's Jim Kirk, if you know what I mean," Gale said with a knowing grin.

"No, what do you mean?" Danielle probed.

"He was the coolest, hottest guy in school. I knew he cheated on me a lot, but I didn't care because I was the only one who got to call him my boyfriend," Gale explained, "But eventually I realized that I wanted him to myself, and I knew he wasn't going to change, so, I left. Went to the academy." She finished and took another sip of wine.

"Do-do you think he's changed?" Danielle asked, afraid of what answer she would receive.

Gale shrugged and sighed, "Unfortunately I don't think he ever will, but who knows, I could be wrong. But I'd kind of like to find out," she grinned.

Danielle went to bed that night, very unsettled. She knew Jim loved her, but she also knew that Caitlin Gale knew him a lot better than she did. It gave her a put in her stomach, but she just had to wonder if she really did have no reason to worry. How could she feel safe when someone who really knew him did not even trust him? She reasoned that Caitlin Gale probably held a grudge, and that there was no reason to worry, but, she could not shake the sinking feeling that the events of the night had caused to form inside of her.

For the next two weeks, Danielle worked as hard as she could without hurting herself in the gym. The end of the two weeks found her completing yet another stress test. McCoy's face remained inexpressive throughout the whole duration of her test, so she could not get a read on how well she was doing.

"Well, how'd I do?" She asked, stepping off the treadmill upon completing the test.

"You passed." He replied bluntly. Danielle's eyes got wide with excitement before he added, "barely."

She gave him a worried look, "So can I go back to work or not?" She asked.

"I'm signing off for you to return to light duty only. And I'm serious Duvall. One wrong step and I will be sending you back to bed faster than a hot knife through butter." McCoy warned sternly, "but as of right now, you're to report to the bridge."


End file.
